He knows how many minutes, on average, it takes to make the burger — two minutes — and has made sure it takes no more than that to make his company’s best selling item, the chicken burrito.

He’s poached several international McDonald’s executives to head up his own company. Three former Macca’s bosses now sit on the Guzman Y Gomez (GYG) board and are key investors.

GYG’s current CEO Mark Hawthorne is the former managing director of McDonald’s in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Mr Marks has no qualms about admitting he wants to mimic the fast food giant’s success, but with “fresher, healthier” food, in a bid to control a bigger slice of Australia’s $15.6 billion-plus fast-food market.

He says GYG has an annual revenue of $170 million and each store averages $40,000 in sales a week. According to McDonald’s, its Australian stores brought in $5 billion in 2016.

This week GYG is launching what Mr Marks calls an “attack” on the booming Australian success of McDonald’s, with “mini” versions of seven menu items — including burritos, nachos, enchiladas, salads and fries.

Over the coming weeks it will also launch a breakfast menu, more Drive Thru venues, a plant-based menu, espresso coffee and a kids’ menu.

“It’s a real attack on fast food,” Mr Marks said of the changes.

“When you build a business you want to disrupt the biggest competitors you can. Our competitors are McDonald’s and KFC ... I think it’s time for a major disruption and I want GYG to lead the way,” he said.

The mini nachos. Picture: Guzman Y GomezSource:Supplied

The mini nacho fries. Picture: Guzman Y GomezSource:Supplied

The Minis range was introduced for its millennial consumer base — 65 per cent of customers are aged between 18 and 35 — who are increasingly health conscious and unlikely to regularly eat a whole burrito for lunch.

The idea of smaller portions seems to have worked. “Omg we can go on a diet and still eat guzman,” wrote one woman on the GYG Facebook page. Another said: “Now I can get 2 things and not feel fat.”

Mr Marks speaks constantly of GYG as the “healthier” fast food alternative, but most of its menu items are between 3000kJ and 5000kJ, often more than half the recommended daily energy intake.

Dietitians recommend the average adult consume 8700kJ a day, and far less if you’re trying to lose weight.

The mini burrito. Picture: Guzman Y Gomez.Source:Supplied

The mini burrito. Picture: Guzman Y GomezSource:Supplied

This move to healthier choices mimics some of the changes McDonald’s has made to its menu.

“We want to be a part of people’s everyday lives and choices and to do that you need to offer more than just hamburgers and fries,” McDonald’s CEO Shaun Ruming told news.com.au in June.

“There’s huge growth in salads, wraps and people buying water and coffee [10 per cent of McDonald’s sales are from coffee],” Mr Ruming said.

“If you’re not modern and progressive and keeping up with what the trends are, then our customers are going to go to other places. There’s a lot of choice out there so we have to make sure McDonald’s is one of those choices.”

Other changes implemented over the past 12 months include a new gourmet burger range, novelty items such as the Chicken Big Mac and Loaded Fries, store revamps and a partnership with Snapchat allowing job applicants to submit their resumes via the popular app.

The mini enchilada. Picture: Guzman Y GomezSource:Supplied

The mini salad. Picture: Guzman Y GomezSource:Supplied

Guzman wants to imitate the success of McDonald’s introduction of the all-day breakfast menu in 2015. GYG’s breakfast menu will include a breakfast burrito and guacamole on sourdough.

Its new deal with Vittoria is an attempt to break into the cheap, convenience coffee market — a war currently being fought between Coles, 7-Eleven and McCafe.

With more than 800 outlets, McCafe is our biggest coffee chain, but is facing tough competition from 7-Eleven’s $1 coffee and Coles Express’s 80 cent option.

“We want to be serving breakfast, lunch and dinner 24 hours a day,” Mr Marks said of GYG’s expansion into coffee and Drive Thru.

He believes consumers want the ease and convenience of McDonald’s, but with GYG’s food.

“This is the new fast food. People said to me ‘Don’t call it fast food’, because it just had such a negative connotation for so long,” he said.

“Everybody is trying to get out of fast food because there’s such a stigma surrounding it. But since when did fast food have to be bad for you?

“Traditional fast food hasn’t changed in decades and they’re getting away with such low quality food and for me, that’s not OK. We’re what fast food should be.”